


All in our head

by SatansTired



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Death, Drama, Fantasy, Half-breeds, Hybrids, LGBT, Magic, Minecraft, Wither - Freeform, sfw, withered
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28583682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatansTired/pseuds/SatansTired
Summary: One of the cryptids named Ranboo, loses control over themselves bit by bit while the nation of L’Manburg prepares for Doomsday. He has a plan to save himself and the people, but is he going to make it?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	1. It was never meant to be

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote the first chapter for the idea I had in my mind for days. The festival event and Ranboo’s acting gave me a lot of ideas.  
> This fanfiction doesn’t contain any romance, shipping or anything of the kind. It’s more of a drama/angst thing.

Cryptids weren't an unusual sight on the Dream SMP. Humanoid creatures mixed with various entities, both hostile and peaceful. Some were looking more like their mob counterparts, some were mostly human. 

Although it was possible to mix with every creature, there were more common hybrids and those that were rarely seen. 

It's safe to say the rarest ones were the ones that came from withered skeletons or withers themselves, in the second place there were endermen hybrids. Both were hard to catch, not even talking about any trying to breed with them, no matter what mob you were. 

Although wither skeletons were more lethal, endermen were harder to caught which made the number of hybrids limited to few examples that barely exposed themselves. So far, there was only a single one seen by the people of today's age. 

He was known for L'Manburg as Ranboo, it wasn't clear if it was his name or not. He was described as a tall, half black, half white humanoid with one eye green and second red. He always seemed to stare into the distance as he didn't possess eyelids, surprisingly enough the humanoid avoided any eye contact.

No one knew at first what was the man mixed with as he preferred to not reveal it. Although many believe it was because he did not remember. 

Besides the usual enderman traits, as the faint purple aura around him, quiet inhuman noises that were characteristical for the monster, and dislike for rain, Ranboo suffered from extreme memory loss.

He was only able to remember certain important events, other things were written by him in his journal that he kept with himself at all times. It was unclear what he kept there but since the cryptid was nice to everyone no one bothered to check.

He wrote about every single event, every single friend there. Everything that he felt was important to remember. 

It was not the end, as upon death it was revealed he dropped his organs. While Ranboo's body disappeared only leaving the crown, blood, guts, and eyes were dropped, there were also brief amounts of flesh. All of it seemed to melt away upon direct contact with any fluid containing water.

Besides that, there were horns on top of his head that served no exact purpose. They were long and often compared to the ones of the devil by many. He also possessed small sharp fangs that weren't exactly helpful. 

Because of those two things people suspected the second creature he was mixed with had to be from the Nether, although no one seemed similar enough there. It was hard to trace back to his biological parents as Ranboo said he didn't remember having any. Another trait that wasn't exactly fitting was his pointy ears that could be compared to those of Technoblade's. 

The hybrid couldn't teleport, but Ranboo discovered that ender pears took him for much longer distances than average. It didn't mean he didn't want that teleportation though.

Despite not talking to his kind, Ranboo wasn't seen as a threat by endermen. He even seemed to be liked more than an average creature. Mainly because of that the man tried to do his best to not kill them, wanting to be their friend. 

It was worth noting Ranboo's personality was soft. He was friends with everyone, even those that betrayed L'Manburg. It was a controversial choice but the hybrid just wanted to get along. He wanted to be the good one. He wanted to care for the people and every single being around him. 

Probably the only thing softer than his personality was his hair. Although not many managed to touch them. They were curly and fluffy, one side was black, one white. His hair was reaching his jaw and never any more than it. 

As for his build, Ranboo was pretty much built like an enderman. He was the tallest known humanoid known to the people of the SMP. The creature was around six foot six, beating Wilbur and Technoblade. 

His legs and arms were long and skinny, but not to the extent where he looked terrifying. Unlike the endermen, he seemed to have body proportions intact. 

Regarding his clothing choices and accessories, it seemed as if Ranboo had quite the knowledge about fashion. Despite usually wearing suits that only made him seem taller, his casual clothing ranged from hoodies and jeans to more alternative styles. His ears were pierced and he was often seen wearing rings and piercings. His casual clothes were also paired with chains that made the hybrid look even more intimidating. His nails were slightly longer but well taken care of and always painted so it matches his rings. 

There was nothing bad you could say upon first meeting the humanoid. He had the style, manners, charm, charisma, and an amazing personality. 

You would expect him to live a happy and fulfilling life, that he would have a lot of friends and maybe even a family in the future. This wasn't the case. His seemingly good traits ended up being his doom. His desire to be friends with everyone, protect people and every living creature brought him to that pathetic state.

Maybe if it was just that nice, friendly man, there would be fewer problems, fewer conflicts within his mind. 

What do I mean by that? Ranboo wasn't a simple mixture of two species, those were two people from different breeds merged by force. A soft enderman and an angry spirit of some kind that set up the merge. It was the cause of his memory loss as those two minds couldn't coexist together. 

Two people were fighting inside his mind wanting to take over. 

It was after the festival. Ranboo was on his knees in his obsidian safe space, soft tunes of the disc played as the humanoid screamed and sobbed, endermen noises came out of his mouth instead of words. 

The crown fell off his head with a loud bang, hitting the obsidian floor. The enderman tried to calm himself down and not let the spirit win. 

He repeated to himself that it was all Dream's fault, that the merge was Dream's fault, that Dream had go be exterminated for the world to be truly free. The screams of agony lasted for good twenty minutes until the humanoid passed out. 

Ranboo woke up two hours later, it was already getting dark again. The enderman was back to being fully in control, only hearing the mumbling of the spirit at the back of his head. 

The humanoid knew what had to be done, he wasn't sure of this choice earlier, thinking he could handle the pain, but to win the war another step had to be done. 

They had to be separated. The enderman needed a human-like body that was just for him, that would allow him to kill Dream and end the suffering. Ranboo didn't have much time to act. He needed to find someone who could undo the spell without him turning back into an enderman. He needed to do something impossible. 

The humanoid got up from the floor, grabbing the crown. He knew those next hours will decide the fate of the world no matter if he liked it or not.


	2. Trust only your kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving the panic room Ranboo goes on an adventure to find the person who could fix him. During his trip he finds an unexpected ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for 100 hits! I’m glad people like this AU and I hope that you’ll like the road this fanfic will take. I’ll try to add chapters at least once a week to keep the hype.

Ranboo swam to the surface. He sat on the beach and looked at the sky. It had to be okay. He needed to find a way to free himself. There was nothing more important for him than that at this second.

He wasn’t exactly where to look. He opened his book and wrote a to-do list to not forget. There was finding a way to free himself and fight for his friends. He closed the book, hiding it in his suit. 

He walked forward, straight to L’Manburg. The man had knew where to look, he was proposed to end it all before by an unknown person. Ranboo was given a page with coordinants years ago, it was propably one of his earliest memories. The piece of paper appeard in his cottage once, the place was in the nether apparently. 

It was far away from the original portals but he couldn’t do anything about it. 

Ranboo marched to his house to search for the paper, he passed the citizens of the country, they were all panicking and gathering everything they could get. He was supposed to help with that but had more important things to do in his life. 

The man walked into his house, looking at this pets with sadness in his eyes. They were going to die, all of them. Just the thought pushed him on the verge of tears. He got on his knees and opened the ender chest going through his stuff, hoping he didn’t lose it. 

After some time of looking through the mess that was this chest, he finally pulled out a notebook where the page was kept. He opened it and took the loose piece of paper out. Ranboo rewritten the coordinants into his book in case he lost the page and got up from his knees. 

As long as he wouldn’t panic he had control over himself, so the chance things could go wrong were slim. The humanoid gazed at his pets one more time before grabbing some gold from his chest and leaving the house. It was propably one of the last times he saw it, especially in one piece. 

He took a deep breath and went straight to the portal hoping no one would bother him as time was important now, despite the time in the Nether flowing much more slowly he still had a lot to do. His dreams of it going smoothly were ruined as Niki called out for him.

Ranboo looked at her and waved with an awkward smile.

-Can we talk? -The girl asked as she approached the cryptid. Ranboo wasn’t exactly happy to see her but didn’t want to be mean.

-Of course! What do you want to talk about Niki? -He said and laughed awkwardly like he always did. Acting naturally was key now not wanting to have anyone suspicious of him, especially after he betrayed them.

-First of all... I’m sorry for yelling at you. I cooled down and thought about what you said and you were correct! Because you remember what you said, right? -She asked a bit concerned for him. The man look away and bit down on his lip.

-Not a lot... I’m sorry. Although I am happy I inspired you. I’m just sick of it, sick of all the fighting and violence. You know? After all, Technoblade is my friend, Tommy is my friend, Tubbo is my friend! -Ranboo sighed crossing his arms and leaning against the building behind him.

-Does that mean you’re not going to fight? 

-I will! I have to. I-i suppose I don’t want to disappoint Tubbo. -He sighed looking at the dark sky. Niki frowned at his words.

-But isn’t Techno your friend? Correct? By fighting you’ll betray him and you know it. -Niki shook her head. Those words tipped him off.

-Why do you care so much? Why? I know I’m a traitor but it doesn’t mean you have the right to torment me! -He yelled, stepping away from her. Ranboo had enough issues and didn’t want those comments.

-I’m not tormenting you. I just want to say that you don’t have to fight for the country that has hurt you. It won’t be betrayal, now that I think about it I’m sure you never betrayed any of us! -She said walking up to him. -All I’m saying is... Everyone who cared about this country went insane, I don’t want to go their route, I don’t want you to go this route.

-I understand your point of view Niki, but I’m not going to fight for the country as it doesn’t matter for me. I’ll be fighting for the people. Now excuse me but I have things to do. -Ranboo said and walked away rushing to the portal. 

In his mind Niki was already going insane. He was happy that she found her way of living but her face said she wasn’t sane. She wasn’t the same Niki other people knew. When he thought about it he realized no one was the same. The country changed everyone. 

He walked through the portal and sighed before walking towards the correct direction. Ranboo got on the netherrack and looked around. Maybe he should just stay here? Wait out? The issue was that if the portal was broken he had no way of getting out, not even mentioning lack of food. 

No, he had to fight. He had to fight for his friends! He opened the book and gazed at the friends page. Were they even his friends though? He will betray Technoblade, he betrayed Tubbo, he will betray Tommy... He will betray them all or was already a traitor in their eyes. Did he even have friends to fight for if that was the case?

Ranboo looked out at the page with shaky breath. He had to maintain control, he couldn’t let the fears take over. The humanoid whimpered and ripped out the page were the names of his friends were written. 

In his eyes he had no friends anymore. It hit him no one liked him or will hate him after this all will go down. He had no one to fight for. Then why did he even want to change who he was? 

Ranboo looked at the zombie piglin that stared at him for a while now. He clenched his fists. If he didn’t resolve that conflict within him he could hurt the people further and that was the worst thing he could do. He needed to put himself together!

The humanoid got off his knees and grabbed the book before hiding it. He had a goal and needed to finish his job. Ranboo started to walk further, he had a long road before him. 

It took him a long time to even get halfway through the way. He started to get worried he would never reach it in time. How would he even get back? 

The cryptid screamed at the zombie piglin but instead of his human voice, an enderman like yell came out. He groaned and got on his knees again. Ranboo laid on the hot netherrack and looked at the ceiling. 

After a short moment an enderman appeared over him. It leaned over and tilted his head to the side. It must’ve recognized his scream and came to help. Maybe he could get some pearls from it? As he wasn’t smart enough go bring any.

Ranboo spoke to it with his enderman voice. It was extremely difficult to do so but the creature seemed to understand his struggle. A smile appeared on his face as he sat up. The enderman gave him a bunch of pearls before touching the enderman part of his face and disappearing. 

That was an interesting experience.

Endermen never really recognized him as his kind despite the noises he made or his aura in general. It was an interesting experience, a really good one. It felt amazing truly. He was recognized by his kind! 

The man grabbed the pearls he was given with a smile and threw them one by one. He felt free. He finally felt free. Like his worries didn’t exist! 

As if the chaos his mind was calmed down after all this time and was replaced with adrenaline. His screams of excitement were heard through the whole Nether. Who needed friends when you could just do this? 

Ranboo finally saw the destination of his journey, it was a fortress, a really big one and surrounded by a massive amounts of wither skeletons. As if there were multiple spawners around the place. If he could pearl into the right spot he could go untouched.

He threw the pearl through one of the windows, although he needed a few tries. Surprisingly the inside was empty and lighten up with torches. Who was so powerful that could make spawners of mobs? It was confirmed it was impossible to do so with recources that were off limits for normal people. 

It seemed as if they could control where the skeletons could go. Were they a withered skeleton themselves? A half breed? That would be almost impossible, but more possible than spawners.

Ranboo decide to take a turn left as it seemed the coordinants pointed there, which meant an entrance should be there. It was a bit of a walk as the corridors seemed to be endless. Clearly the fortress had to be rebuilt from scratch to achieve such size.

Soon enough he found the end of it, it was a wall although it for sure was just a door. A secret entrance. Ranboo lifted his eyebrows wondering why someone would need another layer of protection. It’s not like people knew about this place. There were no sign of anyone from the SMP reaching this place.

He walked up closer and before he could even find a button to open the door, it opened itself. The humanoid flinched and stepped back as the door slowly opened and revealed the person behind it. 

-Hello Ranboo. I knew you were coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the second chapter. It’s kind of chaotic as I want it to represent the things Ranboo has on his mind, the next chapters will be more put together as we’ll get to know Ranboo’s backstory and who’s the mysterious scientist/magician.


	3. Don’t look in the past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ranboo discovers what happened to him and gains a new friend along the way. He was a step closer to being freed as the war in L’Manburg got closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahah yes updating twice a week. Anyway have a longer chapter as my apology (2k words is longer ok).

The humanoid looked at the person in front of him who was pretty much the same height as him. 

Was that the person? Ranboo studied their appearance, the thing that stuck out the most was their skeleton arm that was withered. Their skin was pale with some black tint to it while his eyes were completely black. That made perfect sense, a withered skeleton controlled other withered skeletons. 

-You did? -Ranboo asked a quite stupid question. The withered chuckled, their voice was deeper and sounded terrifying. If cave noises had a voice that would be it.

-Since I saw what you ended up being, plus now you were heard in the whole underworld. Did your friends finally make you come? You needed fixing from the start so I expected you to appear years ago. -They invited him inside with a movement of their healthy hand.

-I came here on my own accord. My ex now friends don’t know what I really am. They think I’m a half-breed. -With some hesitation Ranboo entered the room.

It was big. There were a lot of alchemy equipment, books and other things he never saw before. The humanoid stared at it amazed, not sure if it was magic or science at this point.

-Technically they’re right. You’re a hybrid, of course made unintentionally. The soul inside you was supposed to take your enderman powers and abilities. Something must’ve gone wrong and your consciousness stayed and dominated the body. After all endermen are powerful beings. -The withered gazed at Ranboo’s body before crossing their arms.

-Did you do this to me? -Ranboo asked frowning. The wither halfbreed giggled. All of it was so hilarious to them.

-Of course not. If I did it the whole thing would work. I was offered to merge you both years ago, I declined as things like this are brutal in my opinion. That person must’ve found some greedy bastard to do it which backfired. -The withered grabbed one of the potions and gave it to Ranboo.

The enderman hybrid looked at it and back at the other person with confusion on his face.

-It will keep the soul in their mind space. I assume you came here to be seperated so you need to take it. -The withered explained before looking through some more potions.

-Of course, I just want to know who am I dealing with. I came here for help and answers. I know what I am in theory, it’s hard to ignore it, but who made me this way. -Ranboo set the bottle on the desk before walking closer to the withered. He grabbed their skeleton arm and quickly regretted it as his hand started to sting, as of he was poisoned.

Seeing that, half-breed cursed under their breath and poured Ranboo’s hand with a healing potion.

-Don’t touch me. At least not this part of me. If you haven’t realized my skeleton is one of the wither. I’ll give you answers you need, just calm down. When you’re chaotic you lose control over the hybrid. If you go too insane the soul might take over and I don’t know what is it capable of. -The withered said grabbing one of the books and giving it to the other.

-Would you mind saying who are you? I already realized what are you. I wouldn’t mind knowing how did you get all this stuff either. -Ranboo took the book from them and opened it on one of the pages.

-My most common name is The Withered, but when I was born they named me Samuel. My family used to have too close relationships eith wither skeletons and withers themselves. As you see I’m a cryptid which means my mother had to do the thing with one of them. Although my family preffered calling it a curse to not be casted out. Is that good enough? -They asked with a smirk. 

-If your whole family used to do it then why are you the only one here? Or is your family somewhere in-between that army in front of the fortress? -Ranboo frowned and looked at one of the pages. 

Samuel sighed.

-They were murdered by those that were clean. After birth kids from my family were always put through a test, we are taken to the underworld to see if our eyes turned black. If they did it was a sign we are more wither than human, which meant we are impure in their eyes. As you see, my eyes are black so I didn’t exactly pass their test. Then we are seperated and raised by a special baby sitter where we learn to hate our kind, hate ourselves and get ready to die. My family decided to not be so brutal and kept the wither half-breeds until they were eighteen and hated who they were so much that they agreed for execution. Me and my twin sister were through the test, she passed it unlike me. Her name was Gabrielle. Coming back to the main point, most of the half-breeds from my family died like planned but some managed to run away just like me. Those that escaped built this place but were hunted down so the place was taken over by humans. My uncle forced them to leave after summoning wither skeletons to take over the place. After that he built a skeleton farm so no one could get through. Of course it’s not flawless as you managed to get in but did the trick. He died while rescuing me from my execution, since then I run this place.

Ranboo listened to their words. Maybe it was better if he didn’t ask. How long ago was it? The whole place was really expanded, it must’ve been decades. Although it didn’t explain why they were still young. Maybe it was effects of the potions? Would make sense.

-It... Must’ve been awful. Nothing I’ve ever heard about. Is your family still there somewhere? A wither half-breed was maybe seen once or twice in the place I came from. 

-I’m really far from your land. I wouldn’t be surprised if we lived on different continents. 

That made sense. Ranboo gazed at the book pages once again, Samuel flipped pages a bit further. They pointed at one of the drawings.

-It’s the exact spell that was supposed to be performed on you. That person didn’t know I had this book, if they did I bet it would end badly for me, especially after I declined their offer. -The withered half-breed said before looking up at intrigued Ranboo.

The picture portrayed the process of merging two creatures together, a successful attempt at it ar least. 

-Well, I’m not looking like that guy. It says that a mind of one of the creatures must be erased.

-Yes. Two minds can’t coexist together, symptoms of such a failure are often mistaken with schizophrenia or DID which is understandable but wrong. When two brains are connected like that, it’s more as if they were sewed together really badly. Plus there can only be two brains involved otherwise the body really won’t handle. It’s awful when two minds are fighting with eachother but three... -Samuel sighed before flipping to another page. 

It was about Ranboo’s case and other posibilities of what might happen if such an operation fails. 

-Why am I still alive? It clearly says I should be dead. 

The whole situation was both creepy and scary for Ranboo. He gazed at the pictures that showed what things happened to people like him. 

Two people with two different mind spaces, memories, bodies and feelings couldn’t share a body due to it not being enough space. Brains of various Earth creatures including human one’s were only built for just a single mind. When an additional one appeared and interacted with the original the balance was thrown off. 

The brain confused memories of one person with the other one’s which resulted in memory loss. When those two entities start to fight over who should be on top it gets even worse as it only speeds up the death of the brain.

-You’re only alive because the brain of an enderman is built very well, it’s strong as it has to endure much worse things. Plus you and the human soul don’t interact with eachother, correct? They manifest themselves just in your appearance but you don’t look like you talk to them a lot. 

Samuel said before taking the book from Ranboo.

-Well... I hear him sometimes. He tries to take control and sometimes in my dreams I seem him. He tries to get to me but it always is blocked off by a door or a window. He bangs on them and sometimes they crack but he never got in.

Ranboo shrugged. He thought about the presence of the other person. They were never close to him, they only talked and tried to make him get closer and let him in, sometimes more violently.

-Weird... I suppose you never opened that door, which is good. It’s surprising but it seems your mind spaces have barely got in contact with eachother. That means the spell was really awfully done, because if it was strong that person’s mind would crash into yours. The fact that you heard them and saw them means that there are cracks but nothing serious. 

Samuel said and walked up to one of their tables before grabbing some of their equipment.

-Drink that potion I gave you. The procedure will be easier than I expected. The question is, do you want to keep your current body? I can turn you into an enderman and erase the memory of all the events.

Sam said as they started to set everything up. Ranboo thought about the answer as he took the potion and drank it. Should he do it? Should he avoid all his problems and just forget? 

The enderman hybrid took out his book and opened it. The man looked at the place where the friends page was ripped out. He had no one to fight for after all.

Samuel look at him before frowning.

-Are you alright?

Did they remind him if something bad?

-Yes... It’s just... I don’t know. I don’t know of I have anything to go back to. You know? L’Manburg, the country I live in will be destroyed. I don’t know if I want to fight for it. I-I had friends in there... You know... Before. But I betrayed them. I wanted to help my other friends and I had to betray those in L’Manburg. I’m quite sure they hate me because of it now. 

Ranboo closed the book before closing his eyes. 

-But if I forget I’ll have nothing.

He whispered to himself. The cryptid was again pushed into the state of sadness and regret. He made so many mistakes... The big dillema he had haunted him once more. Maybe Niki was right? Ranboo made an enderman noise before feeling a hand on his shoulder.

-I’m quite sure you have a lot of friends. You know what I’d do in your place? I’d take the body and the memories and do what I feel is right at the moment not worrying about the past. When the human soul will leave your body your enderman abilities will be unleashed and even stronger than before if you decide to stay humanoid like now. 

Samuel said with a gentle smile. Ranboo gazed at him and nodded before hugging the wither hybrid, trying his best to avoid touching the skeleton arm. 

-Thank you. That’s the best I can do for now. They all hate me anyway.

Ranboo mumbled out as Sam tilted their head to the side a bit. It was a sweet sight. 

-Don’t say that. Alright? You seem like the guy that cares for everyone around him, you said so yourself that you just wanted to help all of your friends. It wasn’t exactly the smartest idea but it’s undersrandable. I’m not a fan of war and conflicts myself. Now, let me go so I can prepare everything. I still need to figure out where to store the second part of yourself.

Ranboo nodded before letting go of the other. Samuel went back to the table with all the things and started to make some potions.

-What do I owe you? 

Ranboo asked which made Sam chuckle a bit.

-Nothing, don’t worry. It’s a friendly gesture, after all no one deserves to suffer like that.

They said and gazed at the enderman hybrid for a second. Ranboo smiled. A friendly gesture. He opened his book and grabbed a pen before writing on a fresh page. 

"Friends:  
Samuel  
Endermen"

Sam was right, he needed to stop looking in the past and see what was in front of him because it seemed he had much more friends than he previously saw.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I went a respectful way with the whole two people one brain thing. I based it off of what the did in the 100 with mind drives as it seemed safe. Anyway I hope the talking wasn’t really boring. I hope I’ll deliver more chapters soon. Follow me on twt for updates of the fic: short_gay_child


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